Leh-Ladakh Tour Packages
One of the most exciting travel destinations in India is Leh-Ladakh, which is a part of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the recent times because of the increased air connectivity and opening of number of hotels and resorts in the area, the tourism activity has gone up multi fold times.
Ladakh brings one face to face with primordial nature. Mountains assume fantastic forms, deeply caverned and castellated, recessed by jagged ridges that glint in the sun even though the sky above may be leaden. There is a sense of dramatic contrast here, and heightened color; tints of yellow, gold and ochre are predominant, but brown and green hillocks, blue and black boulders intersperse the oatmeal sweet of the sandy plains and the central plateau. Hamlets with their barley fields break the pattern of the mountain wilderness. From a distance, it is difficult to distinguish a village fort from its rocky background; all seem part of a marvelous unity.
For a traveler, the rapid changes of terrain are astonishing, one moment you are in a 100-metre wide valley with a panoramic view of an ochre wasteland. In the next instant, you see alluvial fans rising towards the foot of the hills. You may find yourself hemmed in by granite walls sometimes narrowing to a fissure no more than three-meters wide, where the sun does not penetrate and the sky is not visible; the earth is arid and unforgiving, with not a tree in sight, nor a footprint to follow. Yet just a few kilometers away you could stumble upon a rich meadow with lush grass for the mules to munch, migratory wildfowl from Siberia on the lake shore, dogs herding the peacefully grazing sheep, yaks being milked and scruffy little children playing in this pastoral setting.
In the National Park region, the highest in the world, piercingly cold winds blow through the gaps in the mighty ridges, which are often etched sharply against a magnificent blue sky or as often, obscured by mist. If you are lucky, you can spot the rare ibex (whose horns are believed to be good luck charms which frequently adorn flat roofs), or the snow pheasant with a neutral tint that merges with the rocky terrain. More visible with its luxuriant fur is the martnot, a mountain rodent of clumsy gait, which moves surprisingly fast to escape into its burrow.
At every step the landscape gets wilder. Bare rock protects the earth from the burden of heavy snow and the fierce height of the sun. On a clear, well-lit day, the fast-melting snow increases the volume of water cascading down the gorge. The silence of the mountains is broken only by the sighing winds, the call of an unseen animal, the whistle of a bird and the sound of water which resembles a song of joy as it dances down from its icy heights.
From Nymeo, where the confluence of the Zanskar and the Indus can be seen in the distinct blue and green shades of the water, up to Phiyang, where the river divides into a number of channels, the hillsides and the river bed are lush with extensive cultivation. This spot is very popular with the tourists.
As the Indus widens, trees begin to appear and the valley opens up. Broad meadows interspersed with irrigation channels are visible from the road. Tangible symbols of Buddhism appear as one approach a village: Chortens (Tibetan stupas) and mane walls (stones engraved with prayers and invocations, invariably kept to the right of the traveler) start to dot the landscape.
Closer to Leh, the mountains hem you in again, until a sudden dip in the ridge ahead gives you your first view of the capital. Prayer flags strung together sweep upwards to the rocky eminence of Palace Hill crowned by the fort and temple of Namgyal Tsemo.
Flat-roofed, whitewashed houses reach up to the walls of Leh Palace. The road winds past lofty, gaily painted chortens. The poplar grove thins out. Nine storeys high, with a frontage extending 75 meters, it towers over a pile of mud houses, its wall sloping inwards as if shrinking from the touch of plebian huts below. Further up the road is the broad stretch of the Leh bazaar, the open market that awaits customers from Delhi and Srinagar. In bygone days, it was the kafilo (caravan) from Persia or Yarkand that brought the market alive with the ’emporium trade’. When monsoon winds made Indian ports inaccessible, the rice of Parsia travelled up the Ladakh route. Along with rice, other goods from thousands of kilometers away also made their appearance. Even today traces of the ’emporium trade’ are evident, and the Leh bazaar is a good place to buy Chinese soup bowls, shoes, exotic jewelry, metalware and thangkas.
Leh town is enclosed by a low wall, interspersed with towers, approachable through a labyrinth of lanes. Ladakhi dressmakers, general merchants, dealers in antiques and bric-a-brac are present at every corner.
The Ladakhi male’s dress is much like a Tibetan coat, with colorful facings and a cummerbund. The women wear a beautiful styled dress gathered at the waist and lined with brocade. It is worn with coloured pajamas in addition to which modern Ladakhi women also sport the Punjabi chunni, a long scarf. The most popular women’s hairstyle is an intricate design of slim plaits held together at the bottom with a simple string or a gorgeous silver clip.
On festive occasions, women wear a unique headdress, the perak, shaped like a cobra-hood from red felt onto which uncut turquoise stones are stitched in rows of three, eight or ten. Two curved flaps covered with lamb’s wool extend outwards over the cars.
A goatskin stole is another regular feature of the village woman’s attire, replaced with brocade by the affluent. It is a becoming adornment to a dress that is graceful in its simplicity, besides performing a functional role too by preventing the dress from becoming soiled by back-loads. Silk and velvet gondas (hats) are also a part of women’s toilette, adding the desired touch of colour for daily wear as the perak is too heavy to be worn. Ladakhi women have always enjoyed wearing and displaying jewelry — silver necklaces, amulets and rings, and in the old days, they would not go about without a silver toothpick, tweezers and ear-cleaners as well.
With weather-beaten faces, merry smiles and hats at a jaunty angle on top of their elaborate coiffures, the market women make a lively, attractive group. Wherever you go, in Ladakh a beaming lulley!’ will greet you and soon it becomes quite spontaneous for you to call out julley!’ yourself. Without your being aware of it, your identification with Ladakh is well on its way.
Excursions from Leh: The most popular travel excursions from Leh are day trip to Nubra Valley, trip to Pangong Lake, visit to Hemis Monastery, Visit to Thiksay Monastery, these trips can be pre-booked and the details can be found on the below links:
Leh Ladakh Pangong Lake Tour , Leh Nubra Tour and Kashmir Leh Ladakh Tour
For more information on Leh Ladakh tour packages, contact Swan Tours – one of the leading travel agents in India.
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